Today we are going to take a look at 10 contemporary notebook models that boast one common feature: they all have 14-inch widescreen display. Will these solutions prove great business companions? Read more about solutions from ASUS, Acer, LG, MSI, Samsung, Sony and Toshiba.

The developer found an unusual place for the speakers of the integrated audio system.

They are on the ends of the screen hinge. Of course, they sound poor, but are quite enough for emitting system sounds.

The bottom panel doesn’t give you easy access to the components, only the memory slots are accessible.

Well, you don’t need anything else. I doubt a user of this notebook is going to change anything in it manually. The number of available ports and the functionality of the system when it is used as a desktop computer can be extended by means of a docking station which is attached to this connector:

This is a solution to the mouse problem. Just plug your mouse into the docking station and the X1 will become much easier to use.

As for the display, it’s not clear to me why having its own LC panel manufacture and pricing its notebooks rather high, Samsung cannot provide normal matrixes in them. This display produces a faded picture; its color reproduction, speed, color saturation and viewing angles are all below average. The only advantage I can find is its natural reproduction of body colors. Other manufacturers put such displays into their low-end products. Again, I can’t understand this because Samsung has a good reputation as a producer of high-quality matrixes – remember the series of top-end home monitors on PVA matrixes, for example. Unfortunately, you just can buy a Samsung notebook and put a Sony display into it. As a result, both the Samsung notebooks included in this review are the two that have the worst displays, yet they are not the cheapest.

The battery isn’t quite good, either:

This is one half of a normal battery and that’s bad notwithstanding the Pentium M ULV processor the notebook is equipped with. I think such notebooks must come with a full-capacity battery for the user to choose between a smaller and lower-capacity battery and a bigger but larger-capacity one. Here, you have to buy a normal battery separately. The battery charge indicators look even like a joke then:

You can see how much charge the battery has without turning the PC on – not a very helpful thing in this case.

The power adapter is small and compact like the notebook itself:

And the adapter’s cord is thin just as it should be. That’s good because the notebook won’t last long on its battery and you’ll have to take the adapter with you everywhere.

As for bonus accessories, there is only one – a small remote control:

You can use the remote control to turn the notebook on, control the media player and the special AVStation Now shell which is much alike to Microsoft’s Media Center in look and functionality.

It’s hard to make a verdict about this notebook because it seems not a finished product for use, but a concept that somehow made it to retail shops. Funnily enough, other companies took a look at what Samsung had done and corrected all the mistakes. For example, Panasonic produced a model with a similar component layout but in which the keyboard occupies its traditional place with the optical drive below it. They kept the normal keyboard layout and also left the touchpad where it should be. So, if you need a super-slim notebook, there exist alternatives with better ergonomics and with a weightier brand. Considering the ongoing transition of Samsung’s model range to the new platform, the X1 is likely to leave the market soon, to be replaced by a corresponding model on the new platform and with normal ergonomics.